Design of Multi-Luminescent Silica-Based Nanoparticles for the Detection of Liquid Organic Compounds.

Tracer testing in reservoir formations is utilised to determine residual oil saturation as part of optimum hydrocarbon production. Here, we present a novel detection method of liquid organic compounds by monodisperse SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) containing two luminophores, a EuIII:EDTA complex and a newly synthesised fluorophore based on the organic boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-moiety. The particles exhibited stable EuIII PL emission intensity with a long lifetime in aqueous dispersion. The fluorescence of the BODIPY was also preserved in the aqueous environment. The ratiometric PL detection technique was demonstrated by using toluene and 1-octanol as model compounds of crude oil. The optimal synthesis conditions were found to give NPs with a diameter of ~100 nm, which is suitable for transport through porous oil reservoir structures. The cytotoxicity of the NPs was confirmed to be very low for human lung cell and fish cell lines. These findings demonstrate the potential of the NPs to replace the hazardous chemicals used to estimate the residual oil saturation. Moreover, the ratiometric PL detection technique is anticipated to be of benefit in other fields, such as biotechnology, medical diagnostics, and environmental monitoring, where a reliable and safe detection of a liquid organic phase is needed.

Fluorescent Nanocomposites: Hollow Silica Microspheres with Embedded Carbon Dots.

Intrinsically fluorescent carbon dots may form the basis for a safer and more accurate sensor technology for digital counting in bioanalytical assays. This work presents a simple and inexpensive synthesis method for producing fluorescent carbon dots embedded in hollow silica particles. Hydrothermal treatment at low temperature (160 °C) of microporous silica particles in presence of urea and citric acid results in fluorescent, microporous and hollow nanocomposites with a surface area of 12 m2 /g. High absolute zeta potential (-44 mV) at neutral pH demonstrates the high electrosteric stability of the nanocomposites in aqueous solution. Their fluorescence emission at 445 nm is remarkably stable in aqueous dispersion under a wide pH range (3-12) and in the dried state. The biocompatibility of the composite particles is excellent, as the particles were found to show low genotoxicity at exposures up to 10 µg/cm2 .

Ligand-field dependence of the excited state dynamics of Hangman bisporphyrin dyad complexes.

A new Hangman porphyrin architecture has been developed to interrogate the ligand-field dependence of photoinduced PCET versus excitation energy transfer and intersystem crossing in PZn(II)-PFe(III)-OH dyads (P = porphyrin). In this design, a hanging carboxylic acid group establishes a hydrogen-bonding network to anchor the weak-field OH- ligand in the distal site of the PFe(III)-OH acceptor, whereas the proximal site is left available to accept strong-field imidazole ligands. Thus, controlling the tertiary coordination environment gives access to the first synthetic example of a porphyrin dyad with a biologically relevant weak-field/strong-field configuration of axial ligands at the heme. Transient absorption spectroscopy has been employed to probe the fate of the initial PZn(II)-based S1 excited state, revealing rapid S1 quenching for all dyads in the presence and absence of strong-field imidazole ligands (tau = 6-50 ps). The absence of a (P*+)Zn(II) signal that would complement photoinduced PCET at the PFe(III)-OH subunit (i.e., PFe(III)-OH --> PFe(II)-OH2) shows that excitation energy transfer and intersystem crossing channels dominate the quenching, regardless of whether proximal strong field ligands are present. Moreover, this photophysical assignment is independent of the solvent dielectric constant and whether a phenylene or biphenylene spacer is used to span the two porphyrin subunits. Electronic structure calculations suggest that the structural reorganization attendant to reductive PCET at the high-spin Fe(III)-OH center imposes a severe kinetic cost that can only be alleviated by inducing a low-spin electronic configuration with two strong-field axial ligands.

Fusion and planarization of a quinoidal porphyrin dimer.

The crystal structure, near-infrared spectrum and electrochemistry of a quinoidal triply-linked porphyrin dimer are compared with those of its singly-linked precursor; fusing the two porphyrins planarizes the pi-system and reduces the optical HOMO-LUMO gap while increasing the gap between the first oxidation and reduction potentials.

Synthesis of poly(para-phenylenevinylene) rotaxanes by aqueous Suzuki coupling.

PPV-based polyrotaxanes have been prepared by coupling vinyl boronic acids to aryl iodides in the presence of cyclodextrins, and the crystal structure of a [2]rotaxane of this type has been determined.

Highly cis-selective cyclopropanations with ethyl diazoacetate using a novel Rh(I) catalyst with a chelating N-heterocyclic iminocarbene ligand.

A structurally characterized Rh(I) iminocarbene complex (N,C)Rh(CO)Cl is activated with AgOTf to act as a highly cis-selective catalyst for the cyclopropanation of substituted styrenes and other alkenes with ethyl diazoacetate (11 examples, 10-99% yield, up to >99% cis-selectivity).

Adding a new dimension to the investigation of platinum-mediated arene C-H activation reactions using 2D NMR exchange spectroscopy. Dynamics of Pt(II) phenyl/benzene site exchange.

Protonation of (N-N)PtPh(2) (1; N-N = diimine ArN=CMe-CMe=NAr with Ar = 2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3) (a), 2,4,6-Me(3)C(6)H(2) (b), 4-Br-2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(2) (c), 3,5-Me(2)C(6)H(3) (d), and 4-CF(3)C(6)H(4) (e)) in the presence of MeCN at ambient temperature generates (N-N)Pt(Ph)(NCMe)(+) (2). At -78 degrees C, protonation of 1a yielded (N-N)PtPh(2)(H)(NCMe)(+) (3a), which produced benzene and 2a at ca. -40 degrees C. Protonation of 1a-e in CD(2)Cl(2)/Et(2)O-d(10) furnished (N-N)Pt(C(6)H(5))(eta(2)-C(6)H(6))(+) (4a-e). The pi-benzene complexes 4a-c, sterically protected at Pt, eliminate benzene at ca. 0 degree C. The sterically less protected 4d-e lose benzene already at -30 degrees C. SST and 2D EXSY NMR demonstrate that phenyl and pi-benzene ligand protons undergo exchange with concomitant symmetrization of the diimine ligand, most likely via oxidative insertion of Pt into a C-H bond of coordinated benzene. The kinetics of the exchange processes for 4a-c were probed by quantitative EXSY spectroscopy, resulting in DeltaH() of 70-72 kJ mol(-1) and DeltaS of 37-48 J K(-1) mol(-1). A large, strongly temperature-dependent H/D kinetic isotope effect (9.7 at -34 degrees C; 6.9 at -19 degrees C) was measured for the dynamic behavior of 4a versus 4a-d(10), consistent with the proposed pi-benzene C-H bond cleavage. The fact that the pi-benzene complex 4a is thermally more robust in the absence of MeCN than is the Pt(IV) hydridodiphenyl complex 3a in the presence of MeCN agrees with the notion that arene elimination from Pt(IV) hydridoaryl complexes occurs via Pt(II) pi-arene intermediates that eliminate the hydrocarbon associatively, in this case, promoted by MeCN. Compounds 1a, 1b, 1d, 2a, and 2b have been crystallographically characterized.

L-Isoleucyl-L-serine 0.33-hydrate, L-phenylalanyl-L-serine and L-methionyl-L-serine 0.34-hydrate.

The structures of the title dipeptides, C9H18N2O4.0.33H2O, C12H16N2O4 and C8H16N2O4S.0.34H2O, complete a series of investigations focused on L-Xaa-L-serine peptides, where Xaa is a hydrophobic residue. All three structures are divided into hydrophilic and hydrophobic layers. The hydrophilic layers are thin for L-phenylalanyl-L-serine, rendered possible by an unusual peptide conformation, and thick for L-isoleucyl-L-serine and L-methionyl-L-serine, which include cocrystallized water molecules on the twofold axes.

On the reaction of diphenylketene with isocyanides.

The products obtained from the reaction of diphenylketene with a variety of isocyanides are shown to depend heavily on the concentration of diphenylketene; a high concentration results in the precedented dioxolane derivatives, at much lower concentrations the reactions follow an alternative course and polycyclic beta-lactams are generated by a cascade of formal pericyclic reactions.

Synthesis and crystal structure of a meso-trialkynyl[28]hexaphyrin.

A 5,15,25-trialkynyl [28]hexaphyrin(1.1.1.1.1.1) is the main product of the boron trifluoride-catalysed condensation of meso-anthryl dipyrromethane and triisopropylsilylpropynal; it absorbs strongly in the near-infrared, out to 1093 nm.

Contracted and expanded meso-alkynyl porphyrinoids: from triphyrin to hexaphyrin.

The boron trifluoride-catalyzed Rothemund condensation of triisopropylsilyl (TIPS) propynal 1 with 3,4-diethylpyrrole in dichloromethane, followed by oxidation with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) generates a mixture of products, including [15]triphyrin(1.1.3) H3, corrole H(3)4, porphyrin H(2)2, [24]pentaphyrin(1.1.1.1.1) H(4)5, [28]hexaphyrin(1.1.1.1.1.1) H(4)6, and two linear tripyrromethenes H(2)7 and H(2)8. We report the spectroscopic characteristics of these unusual chromophores, together with the crystal structures of triphyrin H3 (and its zinc complex ZnCl3), porphyrin H(2)2 (and its metal complexes Zn2, Ni2 and Pt2), hexaphyrin H(4)6, and tripyrromethene nickel(II) complex Ni7. When the condensation is catalyzed with trifluoroacetic acid, rather than boron trifluoride, the triphyrin H3 become the main product (26% yield). This novel macrocycle is linked with a TIPS-substituted exocyclic double bond. This C=C bond makes an eta(2)-interaction with the zinc center in ZnCl3 with C-Zn distances of 2.863 and 3.025 A. The porphyrin H(2)2 is severely ruffled, and its absorption spectrum is red-shifted and broadened compared with the analogous compound without ethyl substituents. The hexaphyrin H(4)6 adopts a figure-of-eight conformation with virtual C(2) symmetry in the solid state and C(2) symmetry in solution on the NMR time scale. Oxidation with DDQ appears to convert this nonaromatic [28]hexaphyrin into an aromatic [26]hexaphyrin with a strongly red-shifted absorption spectrum, but the oxidized macrocyle is too unstable to isolate.